REPORT OF BRITISH COMMISSIONERS. 99 



on this occasion, adniitted the mortality to be local, and the first- 

 named gentleman stated that in his lonfj ex])erience he had never seen 

 anything- of the kind before, and suggested that the mothers from this 

 special locality might have gone to some particular "feeding bank," 

 and have there been killed together by sea sealers. On the same day 

 we visited the Reef liookery again, and a search was made there for 

 dead pups, which resulted in the discovery of some of ai)])ro.\imately 

 the same size with those last mentioned, but probably not more than 

 an eighth, and certaiidy not more than one-fourth, in number as com- 

 pared with the inner end of tjie Tolstoi llookery ground, and propor- 

 tionately in both cases to the number of living pups. 



350. While making a third inspection of the Wt. Panl rookeries in 

 Se]>tember, on the lOth of that month, the Keef and North-East Point 

 rookeries were again s])ecially examined. The rookery ground of the 

 south eastern side of the Eeef Point was carefully inspected area by 

 area, with field glasses, from the various rocky points whieh overlook it, 

 and from which the whole field is visible in detail save certain narrow 

 stony slopes close to the sea-edge, where dead pups might have been 

 hidden from view among the boulders. Subsequently, the north-eastern 

 sloping ground, named (lorbach on the plans, being at that date merely 

 occui)ied by scattered groups of seals, was walked over. The result 

 of the inspection was to show that there were on the south-east side a 

 few dozen dead pu])S at the most in sight, while on the opposite side 

 l)erhai)s a hundred in all were found in the area gone over, being, i)rob- 

 ably, the same with those seen here the previous month, and in number 

 or contiguity not iji any way comparable with those seen at the inner 

 end of Tolstoi. 



351. On the same day a final visit was made to the North-East Point 

 rookeries, then in charge of three natives only. Two of these men 

 went over the ground with us, and were questioned on various subjects, 

 including that of dead pups, through our Aleut interi)reter. They 

 would not admit that they had seen any great number of dead pups on 

 the North-East Part this season, and did not seem to be in any way 

 impressed with the idea that there had been any unusual mortality 

 there. The ground to the north of Hutchinson Hill was, however, 

 carefully examined by us from the slopes of the hill, and a few dead 

 pups were made out there. Again, at a place to the north of Sea-lion 

 Neck of the plans, and beyond the sand beach uj)()n which holluschickie 

 generally haul out, a slow advance was made among a large herd of 

 females and pups, though part of these were necessarily driven off the 

 ground in so doing. An occu])ied area of rookery was thus walked 

 over, and the dead i)U])S which appeared at this spot to be unusually 

 abundant were counted with approximate aecuracy. A very few were 

 found scattered over the general surface, but on ap])roacliing the shore 

 edge, an area of about L'U,()00 square feet was noted, in which about 

 100 dead pups were assembled. Some of these lay within rea(di of the 

 surf at high tide. IVIost ai)i)eared to have been dead for at least ten 

 days, and several were broken up and mangled by the movement of 

 the living seals on and about them. This particular locality showed a 

 greater number of dead i)ups to area than any other seen at this time 

 either on the North- East or Keef rookeries, but in number in no respect 

 comparable to that previously noted at Tolstoi, or even to that on the 

 south part of Polavina. 



352. We were informed on this our last visit to the Pribyloff Islands, 

 that subsequent to our discovery of and comments upon the dead pups 

 at the two last-mentioned x^laces, the attention of J\Jr, J. Staulcy-Browu 



